Schwitzer health news blog

High level NIH conflict of interest

An internal audit by the National Institutes of Health criticizes one of its senior cancer researchers for "serious misconduct," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Times reports that Dr. Thomas J. Walsh entered "into dozens of unauthorized private arrangements with drug companies ... failing to report annually the outside income, totaling more than $100,000. ... The internal review, conducted by lawyers and other ethics specialists within the office of the NIH director, found that from 1999 to 2004, Walsh received fees totaling $100,970 from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He accepted fees from 25 companies and has led government-sponsored research involving some of those companies' drugs."

The Times says a congressional hearing this week is expected to review NIH's handling of the Walsh case and that of another senior NIH researcher, Dr. P. Trey Sunderland III. The Times adds: "Sunderland, who has specialized in researching Alzheimer's disease, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug-company fees — including about $612,000 from Pfizer — without obtaining required advance approval. In June, Sunderland asserted his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination while declining to answer questions before the congressional subcommittee. Neither Sunderland nor Walsh has been publicly disciplined, and each maintains his senior government position."